This invention relates to anti-counterfeiting systems and methods, and more particularly to a system and method for uniquely identifying items so as to be able to distinguish genuine items from counterfeit versions.
Counterfeiting of items such as goods, materials, and documents defrauds consumers, tarnishes the brand names of legitimate manufacturers and providers of such items, and can endanger public health (for example, when adulterated foods and drugs are passed off as genuine). Counterfeiting is a hugely lucrative business, with criminals relying on the continued high demand for cheap goods coupled with low production and distribution costs. While the costs are difficult to quantify—and do not include non-monetary damage such as illness and death—the value of counterfeiting was estimated in 2009 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to be in the region of $250 billion per year. In a real sense, such counterfeiting imposes an invisible tax on world trade.
Anti-counterfeiting measures have included serial numbers, machine readable identifiers (e.g., scannable barcodes and two-dimensional codes), “tamper-proof” security labels (e.g., holograms and labels that change state or partly or completely self-destruct on removal), and remotely detectable tags (e.g., radio-frequency identification tags) applied to items directly or to tags, labels, and/or packaging for such items. However, such measures have themselves been counterfeited. Further, in light of such counterfeiting, consumers generally have been unable to rely upon such measures in order to verify the authenticity of marked or tagged items.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system for uniquely identifying items so as to be able to distinguish genuine items from counterfeit versions and which provides a means for consumers and other users to verify the authenticity of marked or tagged items.